1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a process for pyrolyzing a hydrocarbon gas, optionally mixed with water vapor, to produce an olefin-based organic compound or a synthetic gas containing hydrogen or an olefin-based organic compound and an apparatus therefor.
2. Related Art
In order to produce a desired olefin-based organic compound (ethylene, acetylene, propylene, butene, etc.) from a paraffinic organic compound, it has heretofore been normally practiced to decompose a paraffinic organic compound having a long-chain chemical composition to an olefinic organic compound having a short-chain chemical composition through a pyrolysis apparatus.
As the foregoing pyrolysis apparatus there has been mainly used a type of pyrolysis apparatus arranged such that a gaseous paraffinic organic compound and water vapor are allowed to flow through a tube in a heating oven, whereby the tube is externally heated so that naphtha is pyrolyzed to produce an olefin-based organic compound.
Further, the olefin-based organic compound produced in the pyrolysis apparatus is transferred from the pyrolysis apparatus to a rapid cooling apparatus to be rapidly cooled therein.
The process to be conducted in the conventional pyrolysis apparatus requires heating to high temperature (from about 700° C. to 900° C.), unavoidably causing the rise in the facility cost and the coking of the interior of the tube. In order to inhibit coking, it is necessary that water vapor be allowed to flow through the tube together with the paraffinic compound.
Further, in the conventional equipment, the pyrolysis apparatus and the rapidly cooling apparatus are separately provided from each other. Thus, the equipment becomes too intricate, and in order to start the rapidly cooling apparatus, there is required the time of period from the pyrolysis a hydrocarbon gas, optionally mixed with water vapor.